


Can I Use Your Horrid Reputation? [17/52]

by andrea_deer



Series: 52 aspec drabbles/ficlets of 2017 [17]
Category: James Bond (Craig movies)
Genre: 52 aspec drabbles, Aromantic Asexual Character, Aromantic Character, Asexual Character, Asexual Q, Gen, Gossip, aroace, aromantic Q, asexual james bond, friendship fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-16
Updated: 2017-10-16
Packaged: 2019-01-18 09:56:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12385842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andrea_deer/pseuds/andrea_deer
Summary: "Just because you don't find people attractive doesn't mean you can't enjoy the time spent together," James waggles his eyebrows as if Q had any doubt he meant more than platonic relations.17th of 52 aspec drabbles!





	Can I Use Your Horrid Reputation? [17/52]

People start talking.

People are always talking, obviously. Pack any bunch of people together and the gossip will start flowing sooner or later. Make said group of people actual experts on observation and deduction, quite literally obsessed with possessing the most valuable information and you will get, well, a well-working spy agency, but also an office most predisposed to gossip in the whole London. There is no option to hide things in MI6. Of course, they are all very well trained to _hide_ information as well, but that only makes the gossip worse, as is the case in point.

No one at the office knows much about Q. Especially not about his personal life or lack of thereof. But now that he helps James more often and James ends up bothering him whenever he's stuck in London... people talk.

James hangs around Q branch headquarters. Eats the snacks Q has hidden in his desk. Plays with all the gadgets. Banters with Q.

Q thinks they're friends. Or something close to that at the very least.

Sometimes he thinks James is flirting with him, but usually, he's quite sure it is just the way James communicates with everyone and the fact that Q is not falling for it makes him more at ease. Q likes to think he got used to it and it doesn't bother nor fluster him at all. Judging by the gossip, he is probably overly confident in that regard.

There is no grand romance growing between them, Q is not interested in James in the slightest, he simply likes the man, dealing with him is surprisingly easy. There is no extra tension, no worry that James will misunderstand their relation. Q is so not his type it is laughable. And if encouraging some false gossip gives him a bit more privacy and peace of mind then, well...

"Did you tell Moneypenny we have plans tonight?" James asks him walking into the room and leaning against the desk where Q is trying to work.

"Well, you're here, aren't you?"

"I don't think that's how she interpreted it."

"Well, that's hardly my fault."

James chuckles. He doesn't seem much offended at the way Q used him, his confusion fades quickly, leaving a smirk behind that is not a good sign for Q at all.

"You know, Q, if you wanted to go on a date with me, you should have at least told me."

Q snorts.

"Ouch!" mocks James. "You should watch yourself there. I'm generally found quite attractive, you know?"

"I generally don't find anyone attractive, so I think you're safe," Q says easily because while he doesn't actively tell people it's not a secret either and they're friends, aren't they?

He tenses anyway because he was friends with a few people that ended up no longer being his friends after he came out to them. It is always a bit of a tense situation... Or so he thought because James apparently didn't get the memo. He is still at ease and smirking, continuing the banter like the statement was nothing new nor surprising.

"Just because you don't find people attractive doesn't mean you can't enjoy the time spent together," James waggles his eyebrows as if Q had any doubt he meant more than platonic relations, but Q pays it no attention, staring at James in the suddenly shed new light.

"You're..." he is quite possibly far too shocked to finish. James frowns for a second, evidently surprised at Q's reaction. Then he grins.

"You never guessed?"

"I didn't think about it."

"Well," James says lightly, "that's hardly my fault, is it?"

The next morning James is late for a meeting with M and claims it's Q's fault for being too irresistible. Of course, Q only gave him coffee and chatted for a few minutes in the elevator, but the gossip spreads like wildfire. One of Q's coworkers even confronts him about it, sounding worried about Q's safety, virtue, and general common sense.

Q laughs, shaking his head and relaxing. This might be the safest friendship he ever had.

Even, or especially, if it comes with a tone of filthy gossip.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [tumblr](lordnochybaty.tumblr.com) or come to my [aspec sideblog](http://acesthetically-pleasing.tumblr.com/) for more aspec goodies :)


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